More about H'burg

Much to Cooper's delight, I found a grassy park where he can run unleashed.  It's a baseball field, well maintained and near the road. I have yet to see people playing ball on it and yes, the signs indicate that dogs are supposed to be on a leash.  However, middle of the day, no one out there, I see little harm in letting little Cooper run to his heart's content.  He starts whining before we pull into the parking lot and can't wait to get out of the car.  Then he takes off and runs like crazy, across the park, down one side, up the other, again across diagonally.  He loves running on grass and since there isn't another dog option for running that I have found, this is heaven for him.  A fat little sausage tearing across the green grass, it makes me laugh every time.

Thursday was the annual Future Farmers of America parade through town and we watched it with dozens of people from the front porch of a beautiful home on the parade route.  Small town floats, marching horses, kids doing gymnastics on the street, fire trucks, local business trucks, it was great.  Food to nibble on, a make-your-own margarita table as well as cases of wine: it was a lovely evening.  Getting some of H'burg's local tradition was fun and getting to talk to new people about random topics was equally enjoyable.

I am beginning to see my sojourn to Texas as a voluntary visit to the virtual Betty Ford Clinic. These people in H'burg are very friendly and very social and very much into eating and drinking good food and wine. Lots of wine.  I think I have gained 5 pounds in the last two weeks, the product of too much good food and alcohol.  These guys put it away!  I have met a lot of very nice folks and they go out of their way to make the newbie feel welcome and included in that welcome is always a glass of good wine. As most of you know, I am less social and more reclusive than the average person.  I don't feel comfortable in a room full of people I don't know, I would rather be home reading a book.  However, I am making the effort to meet people, especially since many of these people might be instrumental in my getting a job when I return from Texas.  Don't bite the hand that might feed  you, as they say.  

But being in Texas for a couple of months with the dogs might be a good thing.  Less eating, less drinking, more sweating, lots of water and lots of salad.  That's my plan. 

Off to Kenwood to visit Steve and Martha this afternoon and evening, back to H'burg sometime tomorrow.  The inn I am helping at is full, of course, so breakfasts are in my future.  

The front porch of the inn, where guests like to sit and have afternoon wine.
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Wandering the town

Right off, I totally admit that being up here in Healdsburg is like being on vacation and when some of you read these postings you might be jealous.  I get that.  Because even though I am out of work and still looking for work, I am also collecting unemployment (for a few more weeks) and therefore it almost seems as if I am living the Good Life.  And yes, I feel a little guilty about it all, especially on a day like today, but my decisions are mine and I take full responsibility for them and am not whining about stuff any more.  Life is good for me right now, as untethered as I may be. 

Today Cooper and I spent some time just walking around Healdsburg, in and out of the town square, down most of the streets in town, looking in windows, venturing into a few shops, fantasizing about lunch, simply enjoying the day. It was sunny and there were many people doing what I was doing: just hanging out. 

Healdsburg is full of food.  From small family run joints to up-scale four-star restaurants, there are dozens and dozens of eateries within walking distance of the town square. It seems that a person could eat in a different restaurant every day for at least three or four weeks and probably most of those meals would be very good.  Some would be excellent and some would be fine, but since this is a food mecca, most of the time you would have a very good meal. Not cheap, except for the Mexican places, but if you have the money, they have the food.

In a couple of weeks the summer Tuesday Farmers Market starts up and there is music with that as well.  Food and music!  Then there is the Healdsburg Jazz Festival during the first weekend of June, something I know little of but will undoubtedly experience.  However, in case you get the impression that I do nothing but hang out and relax in the bliss of this small town, I am also working at the Calderwood Inn with my friend Margaret, making delicious signature breakfasts and dazzling guests with made-up stories from my oh-so-rich life.  Hey, they don't know I really never lived in Cape Town, South Africa and who is hurt by such a small lie?  My tales of adventure working at a wild animal refuge in Guatemala fascinate the guests and they take home great stories to their friends, who are then enticed to come to the inn and experience this for themselves.  It's a win-win situation.

Here's a picture of the town square, in case you haven't seen it.  Tomorrow I will take my camera and get some photos of my own and share them with you.  Well, if I can find the time in my busy life.  I'll try.

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Sam on Saturday

This is Sam while eating lunch. He has a bit of a rash on his chin because of the major drool factor.  While most kids his age are still working on small teeth, he is cutting molars and thus the drooling.  

That's all.  Just sharing a photo. This kid cracks me up and as is appropriate for a 14 month old, is 100% totally watchable all the time.  Plus, think about it: if we fell down 20 times an hour and had to heft ourselves up and continue walking, with no breaks, how tired do you think we would be?  (Rhetorical question.)  But babies just do it over and over.  No wonder they need naps. (Well, we do too, but that's another story.)

Ah, to see a stick on the ground through the eyes of a small child.  It's so wonderful.

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Healdsburg - Daly City, etc

From Healdsburg today, after my bed and breakfast inn duties, back to Daly City. To Oakland tomorrow to watch the Amazing Baby Sam, who is now walking, a feat I have yet to witness in person.  I have the incredibly wonderful task of watching Sam for two days while his Mom and Dad go off and have an adventure on their own.  I can hardly wait.  Sam is a little young (14 months and counting) but I think I can still find a few subtle ways of introducing him to my life of slothfulness and indolence.  It's never to early to learn how to play the system.

The house I was staying at in Healdsburg was an old farmhouse, and some photos from the porch are below. I will be going back there on Monday to continue my inn watching, checking in guests, making my signature breakfasts when needed.  To tell you the truth, while I have no problem chatting up the guests and being charming, I personally prefer the anonymity of a hotel.  Give me clean lines, a clean room, a good bar in the lobby and I am in my kind of heaven.  Bed and breakfast places are just too buddy-buddy for me, and too chatty in the morning. I admit that I am in the minority, especially in a tourist area. Many people love decorated rooms and quaint bathrooms and communal breakfasts.  They leave the breakfast table happy and ready for their day.  It's fine, just not my cup of coffee.

Indulge me..... you might get a photo of Sam this weekend.  But here are a couple from the last few days.

Cooper on the porch.

Looking in the front door at the scary red staircase.

The nice backyard.  Cooper loves the grass.

From the porch, just after the sun left.

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Healdsburg, redux

Perhaps some of you remember Healdsburg from 20 years ago.  It ain't that way no more.  There is nothing funky about this place now.  Oakville Grocery!  In town tasting rooms!  Amazing food!  If you get off the main paths, the neighborhoods are as they have always been, a mix of the cute bungalows and the 1950-style ranch houses, some great areas and some not so great.  But the downtown, the square, is the draw and man does it draw!  A random Wednesday and lunch places were booming. I must say that the proportion of people over 50 is much larger than the under 40's, but hey, it's a weekday.  One must suppose that this group of people actually lives here and eats lunch out mid week when the town is reasonably accessible. On the weekends the tables are turned and the 30 - 40 year old crowd, from out out town, is in the restaurants and tasting rooms and clothing stores.

But a lovely day, crayon-blue skies and white clouds with silver linings.  Let's hope those silver linings pay off.

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Here in Healdsburg

I am in Healdsburg for a few weeks, working at a well established bed and breakfast inn, living in an old Victorian-like farmhouse for the time being.  The inn is over 100 years old, the common spaces are rather large with high ceilings and lots of snazzy decorative touches. The rooms are a bit too decorated for my tastes but it is part of the charm of the place.  Having worked in the b&b industry for over 15 years, this is a very easy job for me, especially since there is help, someone to do some of the prep and most of the cleanup.  Healdsburg is a hot town right now, so many restaurants (and me with so little money!) and dozens of wineries within just a few miles.  It's a mecca for foodies and winos and I intend to spend sometime in the next couple of weeks checking out that scene.  Walking around the town square, having a small meal now and then at a popular eatery, trying some new wines that I know nothing about.  And working a bit, can't forget that part!

After this sojourn, my next move is to Texas for July and August and into September.  My daughter is juggling several jobs and life changes right now and needs some help and support.  Since my living options are limited these days, at least it will give me a place to park my car and my dog for two months.  Yes, I am aware that the weather in Texas in the summer is miserable but that's OK.  It's part of the adventure and it will give me something to whine about in writing.

Right now it is cold and rainy outside, a bit of winter remaining in this new spring season. This wine region is so green right now, the grapevines are perky and healthy looking, with grapes the size of a pin-head alluding to what is to come in the fall. Even as untethered as I am, life is good.


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Could be my future......

How's this for another idea?  Besides the traveling guide for the best Motel 6 and Super 8 and other cheap motels, it seems time for a book about my adventures as a smart, funny, well-read, hard working, experienced, reliable, mature, responsible 60 year old woman who can't find a job.  Instead of becoming depressed and morose and contemplating jumping off the bridge, I have made the most of the situation and have taken either to the road or to random beds that people have offered me.  Now, let's be clear that there are no other people in those beds, one does not want to be compromised in one's integrity about getting those beds.  But still, I am sure there are many women like me out in the US that have been laid off and who cannot find jobs because they refuse to color their hair. I don't know what the rest of them do, but I doubt that they are all traveling around with their small dog, sleeping in cheap motels or at friends' houses.  I would assume most would have moved in with children or old parents or friends, not taking to the Interstate Highways, driving 550 miles a day down lonesome road and happy about it.

Perhaps my traveling adventures are not as boring as those of Rick Steves (yuck) nor as well-written as Anthony Doerr (incredible) but there might be a place for me in travel literature after all.  I could be the older version of Frances Mayes, except instead of getting to travel to Tuscany and buy a villa, I get to drive around in my car and buy nights at cheap hotels!  Seriously, I think many people would buy a book like that.  How many of us know rich people who can hang out in Europe and sleep with brawny construction workers at their soon-to-be restored Italian villa?  Not so many.  On the other hand, how many of us know out-of-work people who are doing what they can to get by, struggling to pay their health insurance?  Many, many more, of that I am sure.  

Polish up the prose, get some more adventures under my belt and sell it as a book.  I might need an agent, (suggestions, anyone?) but unless my biscuit business takes off (and it might, last night I made bite-size versions and they were delicious) and even if it does, that's part of the adventure as well.  The bookstores are full of memoirs from people telling about their sad childhood or their life with their dying parent or their drug-addicted child.  How about a memoir of someone who has long ago gotten over her crappy childhood, who has worked her entire life, who has two awesome adult kids and who hits the road, living on small money, Luna Bars, fruit, peanut butter, canned tuna, water, whiskey and wheat bread?  Wouldn't you want to read that story?  I would.

Cooper, obviously standing on a motel rug, looking unsure.

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Working around

Tuesday night, for those of you who are keeping track of where I am and what I am doing. In Inverness, doing some inn-sitting for my friend Tom who was convinced by me to get out of town while he can.  It is easy to be back at the inn where I have worked for many years and I couldn't have picked a better week.  Cool nights, beautiful spring days, green, pink, red, orange and blue, so many colors from so many plants bursting their seams with spring growth.  It's a great time to be in West Marin for a couple of days. 

I had dinner tonight with my Gemini women, four of us born within a week or so of each other, two of us a couple of hours apart, same year.  Needless to say when we get together there are at least four conversations going at any one time, sometimes more.  Gemini's have no problem wearing many different hats, juggling many different knives at one time.  You don't always know which one of us you will get at any given moment but whichever personality shows up, it will be smart and fun.  We hang out, share food and drink copious amounts of champagne and we laugh our asses off at so many things.  It was a very good evening. 

That's the report for tonight. More will follow.

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Sleeping around

I know I had a post with the same title a while ago, but it seems relevant again.  To get you all up to speed, I have left Daly City for now, and have accepted a very generous offer from my friend Margaret in Healdsburg to stay at her vacation rental house for the next two months.  It gives me a chance to perhaps find work in Healdsburg/Santa Rosa and give me a place to live. It also gives Margaret a person (me!) to help out at the inn she runs and affords her some time off. 

Right now I am in Inverness, doing another inn-sitting gig for my friend Tom who is taking a couple of days off.  For those who are not familiar with the inn business, it is like being in a stage play 24  hours a day, 7 days a week.  Both Tom and Margaret are "on" all the time, whether or not they live at the inn.  Getting days off is sketchy. That's where I come in.  Having worked at a couple of different inns over the past 20 years, I know how they work, I know how to greet the guests, I know what to cook for breakfast.

If I don't find work before the end of July, I will probably drive to Texas for a month and a half. Hang out with my daughter, help her out.  I want to be in Eugene, Oregon for part of September because my ex, John, and his wife Diane are going to Italy (sigh) for that month and it would be good for me to me in Oregon then, perhaps scoping out jobs there.

That might be all I have to say right now.  This moving around from place to place is OK with me right now, although I must say, it is odd to recognize that I am actually "homeless."  Yes, I have people to stay with but it is still a bit disconcerting. I have no home. (* footnote below)  However, I know how to travel light, know how to do small laundry in small sinks and I am not too weirded out by all this.  Yet.

For all of you who read this, keep tuned in.  The adventure continues.   Whatever. 

*  I also recognize that in the big world, my dilemma is nothing.  I have a computer!  A phone !  A dog!  Clearly, if you saw me, enough to eat!  I am lucky, and I know it.

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Amazing SF Murals

When we get ready to go to a new city, be it in the US or overseas, we always check out some guidebooks, look at information on-line, ask friends for recommendations.  It's our nature to try and know a little bit about what we want to see and do before we land in the new place.  Why don't we do that same thing for places we already live in?  True, the more time we spend in one familiar place the more easy it is to simply travel the same routes, go to the same couple of restaurants, walk down the same trails.  But maybe it's time to leave your comfort zone behind.

Raise your hands out there in virtual land:  how many of you have actually walked the streets of the Mission District in SF?  Hmmm, I don't see a lot of hands up in the air.  I realize that many readers of this blog (if there are any at all) don't live in SF but I'll bet you a Bacon Maple Apple Doughnut from Dynamo Doughnuts (yep, in the Mission) that if you journeyed into that edgy neighborhood, just gave yourself two hours one sunny day and walked some streets, you would be shaking your head at what you've missed all these years.

Today was a beautiful sunny day.  As I took the dogs out early this morning I encountered the garbage truck guys on their route and they enthusiastically commented on the weather at 7:15 a.m.  "Hey, whats with this sun? Is this really Daly City?  Man, about time, doncha think?"  Good start to a day.  A nice dog walk, back for a great cup of java (Gabe and Annie use amazing coffee beans) and a bit later I got a call from my friend Tom saying "yes" to a walk-about in the Mission, and so the game was on.

A couple of hours later Tom and I got a map of the murals in the Mission and started walking.  And not only were we in the heart of the Mission, we were in major mural territory.  Almost every block off of 24th Street has a huge mural, mostly on the street corners, different styles and colors but a common thread of freedom, peace, new world, happiness, struggle, every theme a repressed group might express.  We spent almost two hours in one neighborhood of about 8 blocks, checking our map, finding the murals and marveling at them.

This is actually a tile mural, in a playground.

And this is another tile sculpture in the playground, of a dragon, kids can climb on it and there is a little girl hanging out on the dragon's tongue.  Mural behind, a simple one.

This is Balmy Street, an alley off of 24th Street where there are many murals, one shown below.

This is a very small mural, the size of a large garage door. Most of the murals we saw were too big to photograph, two or three stories high,  but you can see some of them at this link or simply google SF murals:  http://www.precitaeyes.org/murals.html

We saw more than 20 murals in the area of 24th Street between Harrison and Potrero, some big, some huge, some small.  It's quite the Latino and Mexican neighborhood, great shops, food, music.  Thursday, on Cinco de Mayo, it will no doubt be incredibly lively and a huge street party. As it was, both Tom and I said almost simultaneously "I could live here."

From there we went to the Women's Building on 18th Street, between Valencia and Guerrero, where the mural is three stories tall and wraps around the building.  The mural has dozens of women's faces integrated into the painting and every face has a story and is a painting of an actual, real person.  We had a guide to the mural, telling us who was who and why.  The stories ranged from Georgia O'Keefe, artist, to women who simply fought for freedom in their own way.  Awesome and inspiring.  Check it out here:  http://www.womensbuilding.org/content/index.php/about-us/the-maestrapeace-mural

We wandered around that neighborhood, 18th Street, near Dolores Park, saw many more murals.  The day was hot and sunny and people were out.  Being in the city, a world class city that we sometimes forget to investigate, was full of surprises.  Go see the murals, or at least wander around some of the ethnic neighborhoods and enjoy the difference.  Eat a burrito or a steamed pork bun or have a bowl of pho.  Get out and walk down different streets and look in different windows.  You might be surprised, and you might like it! 

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A good Tuesday

A good day:  to Green Apple Bookstore on Clement, to do some research.  One of the best and quirkiest independent bookstores (in my opinion) in the bay area.  Yes, we have many, but Green Apple is a maze of shelves, you can easily get lost there.  Then down the street to Burma Super Star for their Tea Leaf Salad and some Jasmine tea.  Yumm.  Drove north on 10th Avenue and into Golden Gate Park, found a good parking spot near the De Young and planned on just going up to the tower.  The museum, where my kids took random art classes in the late 70's and early 80's,  has been remodeled since then and has been re-opened for more than 6 years.  Yet I hadn't been to see the new version. 

The viewing tower, which looks out from the 9th floor to the entire city, is free.  What I didn't know was that today was a free day for the entire museum except for one special exhibit.  Great presentation of great art, not too many people there and just a very pleasant experience.  It looks so different than it did more than 25 years ago. It is quite beautiful.  And the viewing tower with its huge observation deck is totally cool, a 360 degree ;ook at the city. It was a clear day and the view was excellent.

Home after that, took the dogs to the park to run.  It was a gorgeous day in Daly City.  Finally, I made dinner:  I am predicting that the next big food wave will be biscuits and therefore I am perfecting my biscuit technique.  Tonight we had buttermilk biscuits with cheese and a little diced sausage.  They were the flakiest of all the recipes so far and tomorrow I am doing a double batch, one savory and one sweet.  I need to perfect the "make ahead" dough and I might be almost there.  

Re the next big food wave:  come on.  We all know that cupcakes are on the way out and while doughnuts are the hot thing now (with bacon or pepper or chilies) those fried love lumps will run their course as well.  But biscuits!  Think about it:  savory with herbs, cheese and ham or with  smoked salmon and cream cheese, one nice size biscuit is a complete meal.  And sweet, with cinnamon and brown sugar or blueberries and a lemon glaze, you just can't beat that.  The possibilities are endless.  They are cheap to make, they can be 100% organic or they can also be vegan (yuck) and hot out of the oven, especially with butter (sorry vegans) they are a handful of heaven.  Trust me.  Ask and I will make them for you and you will be a True Convert. 

Tomorrow:  it appears from secret sources that the Mission District is teaming with hidden alleys where there are incredible murals painted on walls and buildings.  I am heading to the Mission to see them, have a taco or two and get to experience SF in a new way.  I will report back.

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New Week, Old News

May is the beginning of the 20th month I have been out of work.  Not to belabor the issue, but that's a long time.  Thankfully I have been granted one more extension of unemployment benefits, the last one available. 

Talking to a couple of people this past week, it is becoming apparent not to just myself but to others that my odds of getting a full-time, good paying job are getting smaller and smaller.  I have a couple of things on the horizon but at this moment they are still very part time.  But it's a start, at least. 

One friend made the wise observation "....instead of getting a job, you are going to have to buy a job."  In other words, either buy a business and try and make it work or start my own.  Those are two options I am considering as well, although I am not fond of the idea of spending any savings I have.  But without a job that savings will have to be spent anyway, so what's the difference?  Spend it on something that might afford a living or spend it on just trying to survive the day-to-day out-of-work life. 

There was one moment of inspiration, however.  Talking about eventually just driving around American in my car, visiting places I haven't yet seen, looking for cheap overnight lodging, the idea of a guide book to those cheap places came up.  There was a book published several years ago called "America's Best Cheap Sleeps" but it doesn't seem to have been updated in 7 years, and it didn't actually compare cheap motels one-on-one.  It listed places like Motel 6 or Super 8 but didn't really give you much information about the good ones and the bad ones.

What if there was such a book?  I know many of you faithful readers would hesitate to consider a Motel 6 for overnight lodging, but if you knew which particular motel had new furniture, updated bathrooms, flat-screen TV's and cost less than $100 a night, why not consider staying there?  I have stayed at many Motel 6 and Super 8 places and there is a huge difference in quality.  Some are creepy and you don't want to take your clothes off to sleep, let alone actually take a shower.  Some are brand new, have nice surroundings and are still much less expensive than the Best Western across the street.  And the discussion could also be extended to Best Western and Quality Inns and La Quinta Inns, since there is a huge variance in quality in these chains as well.

It's a book that serves a need, especially in this economy.  Taking a road trip doesn't have to break the bank and it doesn't have to mean camping out either. It's a book everyone could use, families, couples and singles.  Additionally, I could even rate a few restaurants, even if they are McDonalds, because the quality in fast food places also varies a great deal.

Who knows?  If my plans for the next 4 months of my life don't work out, the above book could definitely be in my future.  Besides, except for the money part of it, I like being a nomad for a while and I still like the concept of road trips. I am good at both meandering down small two-lane roads or hitting the interstate and putting miles behind me.  Doing it as research for a book would be even better in some ways.

One final thing for today:  several people have asked how to comment on this blog.  If you have a gmail account, you hit the comment button at the bottom of the page and it prompts you to log into your account and then your comments will be published.  If you don't have a gmail account, you can either email me directly (jagjulie2@yahoo.com  or jagjulie2010@gmail)  or just think nice thoughts about me and I will feel the vibe.

Or not.

This would NOT get high marks as a good place to stay in my new book.  But still, it has some charm as a deserted house!

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